Contemporary Young Adult Author

Christmas in Singapore

So Singapore’s an interesting place. A city-nation-island. One of the safest cities on Earth. Home to over 200 malls. You can find a Hindu temple right next to a Catholic church. A Buddhist temple right next to a mosque. This year, I decided to travel around a bit and document Christmas in Singapore.

Singapore’s about 18% Christian, but Christmas is still a very big deal. The malls and and Orchard Road, Singapore’s version of Times Square, get decked out. Honestly, Singapore may be more decorated than what I’ve seen in the United States, at least in the Midwest.You can also buy real Christmas trees. Though small, they actually go for a reasonable price. Malls somehow create fake snow and you can go and play in it at certain times of the day. Others have foam snow parties.

So here’s my photographic Christmas journey through Singapore.

Each mall and Changi Airport has it’s own Christmas theme, which can range from typical US mall to Alice in Wonderland and Smurf Christmas.

Orchard Road goes all-out starting at the end of October. I’m pretty sure you can see it from space. Orchard Road has over 20 malls, most of which are connected by underground tunnels. It’s literally a maze of malls. The first time I went there, it took me 15 minutes just to figure out how to cross the street!

Gardens by the Bay, home of Singapore’s famous Super Trees, also gets a festive make-over. It was a very teddy Christmas, complete with fake snow.

There were attempts to “Keep the Christ in Christmas.”

And a few other random shots of Christmas around Singapore.

This is actually a mostly “Muslim” hawker centre. Most of the stalls feature halal food and Malay food.

The airport in Langkawi, Malaysia, which is a predominantly Muslim country.

Yep haha. I’d say…Singapore’s a little more obsessive actually. And it’s a little ironic with the whole Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays debate in the US. Whereas in Singapore, where only 18% are Christian, it’s ALL Merry Christmas, lol. Not that I’m advocating for Merry Christmas. It’s just an interesting observation.